Super Mario 3D Land

Reuniting With The Tanooki Suit In Super Mario 3DS

I’m a tremendous fan of both the Mario Galaxy games and classic
side-scrolling Super Mario titles. So, imagine my surprise when I picked
up Super Mario for the 3DS and discovered it is a fun hybrid of both.
Super Mario combines the polished three-dimensional platforming of the
Wii’s Galaxy games with New Super Mario Bros.’s star coin collecting and
side-scrolling. Toss in a touch of Super Mario Bros. 3 and the 3DS’s 3D
effect and you’ve got a winning recipe.

The first stage I played was the traditional Mario fare. Green grass
and perilous gaps fill the landscape. Guiding Mario in a 3D space with
the circle pad feels great. Initially it doesn’t feel as graceful as an
analog stick, but you get used to it fast. Mario can also crawl, long
jump, and butt stomp. Skills developed in Mario Galaxy and Mario 64
kicked in immediately. Shigeru Miyamoto describes it as a Mario 64-esque
3D game with Super Mario World themes, and it definitely plays that
way.

A power-up sure to excite fans makes its return in Super Mario: the
Tanooki suit. Upon collecting the unmistakable leaf, Mario transforms
into a whimsical Raccoon. He uses his spinning tail attack to dispatch
goombas and even float through the air to make jumps easier. Don’t bet
on using your old Super Mario Bros. 3 tactic of breezily flying above a
whole stage to the goal; from what I can tell you don’t have full flight
with the suit. You’ll also find Mario’s trademark fire flower, ready to
let you reduce foes to ashes. Also, for the first time ever in a 3D
Mario game, the plumber will shrink when one hit away from death. It’s a
treat to finally see this iconic mechanic utilized in place of the
health meter.

The real threat in Super Mario 3DS isn’t the enemies, however, it’s
the platforming. The Super Mario Galaxy team is developing this title,
and their trademark difficulty survives the leap to the handheld. The mo
I played wasn’t as teeth-gnashing as the final stage of Super Mario
Galaxy 2, but I did die a half a dozen times or so. I’m not trying to
make excuses, but I blame a few of those falls on the 3DS’s
three-dimensional effect. Judging the distance of a platform can be
difficult when the 3DS’s 3D effect is turned on. I turned it off after
about five minutes of play.

I visited a few colorful locations during my time with the game. A
traditional, lush green level challenges players to cross chasms via a
sporadically expanding bridge. I laughed as I was fooled into attacking
cardboard cutout goombas, tricked by the 3DS’s immersive technology.
Similar to how the star launchers of Mario Galaxy link together
different sections of the game, teleportation blocks warp Mario to other
sections of the level. Mario also travels underground, navigating the
sewers by jumping between the 2D foregrounds and backgrounds as the
classic Stage 1-2 music plays. While Mario leaps across chasms purple
piranha plants spit ink at the screen, obscuring your view like bloopers
in Mario Kart. I liked how pipes in this section lead to offshoot areas
where you can collect coins, then return to the main path. Both these
stages ended with Mario ascending a flight of stairs and leaping at the
top of a flagpole –another indication of the game’s throwback nature.
It’s a nice change of pace ending a 3D Mario game in this definitive
fashion, rather than returning to the stage numerous times to complete
different tasks.

In another nod to Mario 3, one stage takes place on the ominous
airship. Bullet bills fly as the drums thrum their intimidating beat.
Mario leaps from ship to ship, leaping between foreground and background
(very cool when doubled with the 3D effect). At one point I fell trying
to jump between airships, only to discover a coin-laden secret ship
below. Little touches like this are everywhere, resulting in a true
Mario experience. Naturally, the last pipe at the end of the airship
fleet led to a boss battle Koopa miniboss from Mario 3. Instead of
climbing the ceiling to drop on you, he spins around the stage
attempting to bash you with his violent tornado. After a short spin the
turtle becomes dizzy, leaving him open for an attack. Upon defeat he
explodes into coins, marking the end of the demo.

I had a really good time with Super Mario 3DS. There were a couple
times when the mixture of side-scrolling-esque and 3D platforming threw
me off, resulting in some frustrating deaths. I’ve recently been
playing through New Super Mario Bros. for DS, collecting each level’s
three star coins. Super Mario 3DS’ similar layout has me excited to do
it all over again in this promising title.

To be honest, i was underwhelmed when they announced this. Sure, it's something new, but it's not NEW new. Something totally different than any other Mario game. Same goes for Mario Kart, still amazing, but not anything totally new. But, all in all, i am excited for this

I'm looking forward to seeing more of the gameplay and, when it releases, finding all of the little nods to the past Mario games. Now, if you will excuse me, I'm going to go and play SMB3.
Also, tell me, are you wearing a crude Tanuki suit while writing this? You should be!

I agree. When I saw the video it became instantly clear that Nintendo was trying to merge the large 3D Mario games with the 2D side scrolling ones. I was instantly sold, just from the video. I always wondered why Nintendo didn't try this before. Let new and old come together.

Great write-up, Tim. This was one of my favorite trailers/demos at E3, along with Uncharted 3, ModNation Vita, Luigi's Mansion 2 and Tomb Raider. Seems like they really combined everything great about 2D Mario with everything great about 3D Mario.